Fireplace



P. PAOLELLA Feeb. 2, 1956 FIREPLACE Filed April 11, 1946 Fatented Feb.28,- 1950 F iE A Philip Paolella, Hamden, Conn lassig ticreteCorporation, Hamden, Conn.,

' tion of Connecticut l 4 Claims.

. L This invention relates to fireplaces, and more particularly to thoseintended for outdoor use and constructed of blocks of suitable materialsuch as concrete. i i

One object of the invention is to provide a fireplace structure that canbe set up very readily and will serve satisfactorily either as a grillor as an incinerator. l

. Another object is to, provide a fireplace thatcan be set up veryquicklyand conveniently, no spe-, cial skill being required. i I Anotherobject is to provide an improved form and arrangement of blocks infireplaces.

,- In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is av perspective view of afireplace embodyingthe invention; aFig; 2- is a perspective view similar to Fig.1, with certain of theblocks removed; l ,Fig. 3, is an exploded view in perspective, show! ingall parts of the fireplace with the .exception of the screen;

Fig. 4 is a detail section on and Fig. 5 is a detail or grate. i

Inthe form of fireplace selectedforillustration, the structure'is one.in which blocks or elements of suitable material, such as concrete,areiassembled in a predeterminedarrangementwithout requiring the .use ofmortar or cement. Mortar perspective view of the screen or cement may,of.course, be used if desired,

but ordinarilythe weight of theelements isisufiicientto hold themagainst dislocation. In general character the structure is that of ashortrectangular chimney or flue that is open at the topand closed atthe bottom except for a draft opening at the lower front portion. Ascreenor grate element may be set within thebody of thefireplace, as.hereinafter described, the screen being particularly useful when thestructure is .usedas an outdoor grill or as a trash incinerator. Thebody of the structure, having the characterpreviously mentioned, ispreferably set on a suitable base or foundation. In the form shown,

the base is made up of a number of tiles or bricks furnished as a partof the fireplace, said tiles or, bricks being set on the ground side byside ,without the use of mortar, and the remaining structure of the unitbeing erected upon the base bylaying theblocks in prescribed positionsand inserting the screen. r v

, ,In the drawings, the base is indicated at ID, the fireplace body atH, the lower front draft opening at l2, the open top portion at l3, andthe or to Blasa corpora:

' Application April 11, 194e, Serial No. 661,269 I (cli zsei screen atH. Thebody consists of ablocl: layer orcourse [5, set upon the base Ill,upon which block layer are set additional layers I6, I! and I8. Intheparticularform shown, the screen It is set inctheupper open end portionof the layer [7. In this particular case, the layer [5 is made up ofltwohblocks of special-angular formation, and the layer I6 is made up oftwoblocks of anotherand difierent angularform.v The layers I1 and 18 aremade up of elements similar to those used in layer lfi. e

The base It] shown in the drawings .consists of four relatively shallowbricks or tiles [9, the same being arranged side by side and incrosswise fashion with respect to the body I I, and being of a lengthsomewhat greater than the width; of the body l l.-. i

Thelayer I5 is made up of two elements or blocks 20, best shown in Fig.3, the two being identical and of a structure such that when settogether they close the lower part of the body H except-for the draftopening 12, which; draft openingnis created between opposing portien ofthe: blocks.

In the particular form shown, the body II. is 17 inches wide and 24,inches long, the opening l2 being in one of the shorter faces. Thecourses l5, 16, 1|! andslfl are each of a height of 8 inches, The blockelements in these layers all have a wall thicknessiof substantially '2inches. These, di", mensions'and those hereafter mentioned. are referredtov by way of example only, and it is,un,. derstood that I do not limitmyself to any particular dimensions.

The course 16 is made up of two blocks 2i, these blocks being identical."Similar blocks 2i are used in the upper two courses, the arrangementbeing clear from Fig. 3. Boththe blocks Zfiand the blocks 2| areofangular form, as will be apparent from the-drawings, each, of the samehaving a main-portion or body extending along a face of thefireplacethrough out-the length of said face and also having angularlyset terminals, the terminals being of unequal length. .The blocksZllhave their body portions extending longitudinally of the fireplace bodyand have long terminals 26*?- at the rearand short terminal'sili at thefront. The blocks 2| on the other hand have their body portions disposedat the front and rear faces of the fireplace, and each of said blockshas a long terminal 2!? atone side of the structure and a short terminal2| at the other side. Referring to Fig.3, it will be noted that theright-handbloclejfl is identical with the left; hand block,but is ininverted relationship. Similarly it, willbe noted that in thecourse nextabove (measuring to the outer corner), and the terminals 2(l have alength of 3 inches at the outside (measuring to the outer corner). Thusin the case illustrated the draft opening 12 has a width ofapproximately inches. The terminals 2| have a length of 17% inches inthis 01 the block in 4 one place to another as convenience may dictate.The fireplace is also quite inexpensive. In making the fireplaces inquantity it is merely necessary to provide, in addition to the screenhaving the positioning rods or lugs, blocks of concrete or likematerial. There are relatively few forms or patterns of blocks required,one being adapted for .use in the base or foundation, one being used-inthe bottom course, and a third form or pattern being used in the uppercourses. Each course is made up of two blocks only, the two beingidentical. Manufacture is, therefore, considerably simplified. Noparticular skill is re- T quired in arranging the blocks in a givencourse particular case (measuring to the outside corners a of theblock), and this dimension, as will be noted, is the same orapproximately the same as the outer face dimension of the body of block2i. The terminals 2i have a length, measuring to the outside corners, of6 inches.

The screen It in the case illustrated ismade up of a sheet of wirescreen material attached to and supported by two underlying metal rods22. In the case shown these rods have end portions which are extendedbeyond the sheet and are received in seats or notches provided in theblocks of the course I! adjacent the upper edges of those blocks. Inthis case the upper edge of each of the two blocks 2| is cut away toprovide notches 23 that receive the ends of the rods 22. Therefore thescreen may be set detachably in the blocks in the manner indicated in Fi4.

It will be noted from Fig. 3, that, in the form shown, only two notches23 areprovided in each block 2 I, these being in the longer leg orterminal and being associated with one lateral edge of the leg orterminal. As the two blocks of the next to the top course are reversedwith respect to each other in a lateral direction, this brings the fournotches into a horizontal plane adjacent the upper edge of the course.In the assembly shown in Fig. 1, the notches 23 provided in the topcourse and in the third course'from thetop are not used for screenpositioning purposes, but obviously they can be so used if this isdesired. Moreover, the illustrated construction permits a screen to beused in association with the upper edge of the bottom course, for whichpurpose the blocks are provided in their bodies with notches 24 similarto the notches 23. In the assembled position shown, the notches 24 arein line with the notches 23 of the upper courses. Moreover, each of theblocks'20- is provided with two notches at the lower edge as well as twonotches at'the upper edge, as shown in Fig. 3, so that a block 20 canhave a screen seated therein whether the block be in the lefthandposition of Fig. 3 or the right-hand position. Thus it is possible toshift the screen from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a position inwhich it is located in or adjacent the upper portion of the bottomcourse. Manifestly other arrangements of the screen will also bepossiblesothat avariety of conditions can be met.

It will be seen from the previous description that I have provided afireplace structure that will serve satisfactorily as an outdoor grillor as an incinerator, various arrangements of the blocks being possibleto meet different conditions of' use. The structure can be set upv'eryreadily and conveniently, no cementing of' the joints beingrequired, and it can be moved readily from or in'arran'ging the courseswith respect to each other, and the fireplace can be erected by thecasual purchaser in a very quick and easy manner. Manifestly also it isnot always necessary to have four courses in the body of the fireplace.

The described construction is byway of example only, and it will beevident that various changes may be made without departing from theprinciples of the invention or the scope of the claims;

What I claim is:

l. A fireplace structure comprising a base, a body and a grate-likemember, the body being substantially rectangular and having an open topand a lower draft opening in oneof the shorter sides, the base'beingwider than the body and comprising a number of elements arrangedcrosswise with respect to the body and disposed side by side, the bodycomprising four layers or courses of blocks of angular formation and thegrate-like element being arranged adjacent the juncture of the topcourse and the next underlying course and within a flue provided by theblocks, the lowermost course comprising two identical angular blocksproviding a portion of theafiue and providing between them the aforesaiddraft opening, said draft opening being between opposing angularly setterminal portions of said blocks, the course next above being comprised,of two identical angular blocks each having a body portion extendingthroughout the width of the body of the fireplace and providedwith'angularly set terminals of unequal length, said terminals .beinglocated at the longer sides of the fireplace body, and the remaining.courses of. the body comprising blocks identical with those of thesecond-mentioned course, the second, third and fourth courses havingtheir blocks arranged so that the. meeting edges of the terminals are instaggered relation.

2. A fire place structure adapted to be setup without mortar and movedfrom place to place; comprising a body and a grate-like membemthe bodybeing substantially rectangular and having a flue communicating with-anopen top and a. lower draft-opening in one of the sides, the body havinga lowermost course of two angular blocks thatprovide the aforesaid draftopening and close in'the flue at the remaining sides, thebo'dy alsocomprising upper courses of angular blocks'having terminals of unequallength and arranged in staggered relation in successive vertical coursesproviding the remainder of the flue, allof the blocks of the body beingfree of connection with each other andmaintaining their assemblage bytheirweight, the grate-like member being removably set within thestructure between two adjacent courses and heldin placeby the weight ofthe :block's,'said grate-like member when set in between the lowermostcourse and the next course providing-above it a flue portionorchamber'o! considerable depth and when placed between higher coursesproviding a shallower chamber.

3. A fireplace structure intended for outdoor use and for erection bythe casual purchaser at the place of use without the employment ofmortar or cement, comprising a body of rectangular shape having a fiuecommunicating with an open top and a lower draft opening in one of theshorter sides, said body having a lowermost course formed of twoidentical angular blocks providing a portion of the flue and providingbetween them the aforesaid draft opening, the body also comprising uppercourses each formed of two identical angular blocks, the last-namedblocks having body portions extending across the width of the body andalso having angularly set terminals of unequal length and being instaggered relationship in said upper courses, the terminals being inabutting relation at the longer sides of the body so as to close theflue along the longer sides, allof the blocks being freeof connectionwith each other and maintaining their assemblage by their weight. 4. Afireplace structure comprising a lower course of two blocks each havingan elongated body and angularly set terminals of unequal length, thebodies of said blocks closing in a flue at two sides, the terminalswhich are shorter being arranged to provide a draft opening between themat a third side of the flue, and the terminals which are longer beingarranged to close the flue at the side opposite said draft opening, andsuperposed courses of two blocks each, set on the first blocks andproviding a flue portion closed in on all sides but open at the top, theblocks of said superposed courses each having a body portion extendingthroughout the Width of the fireplace body and having terminals ofunequal length, and the terminals of one block meeting those of theother at the edges of the terminals, and the meeting edges being instaggered relationship in said superposed courses, the blocks of thestructure being free of connection with each other and being held inposition by their own weight, the structure also including a screenmember adapted to be held in position between any two courses by theweight of the blocks.

PHILIP PAOLELLA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 797,856 Keith et a1. Aug. 22,1905 1,778,330 Mayer et a1 Oct. 14:, 1930 D. 139,230 Lormor Oct. 24,1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 545,402 France July 20, 1922608,569 France Apr. 24, 1926

